Troy is firmly in control of the top spot in Class AA and CBA will have to take them down on the road to have any chance at a #1 seed. However, the Suburbans are so inter-twined now with Shen making its move and Casey Hall coming back for Shaker that it is hard to tell which team after Guilderland is the next best of the league. Is it Shen? Is it Shaker? Is it Bethlehem? These answers will come in the next couple weeks but for now, Shaker will have to remain where they are until they demonstrate how good they can be with Hall back. Congrats to him for making his recovery and I know I am excited to see the Bison at full strength. Shaker and Bethlehem have a huge battle coming up on 1/27, which will tell a lot about those two teams going into February.

CLASS A

* Academy 9-1 (not playing in sectionals, but having a great season.)

1. Green Tech (8-3)

2. Glens Falls (9-2)

3. Mohonasen (6-5)

4. Bishop Gibbons (4-8)

5. Gloversville (8-3)

6. Queensbury (7-3)

7. Scotia (8-3)

8. Lansingburgh (6-5)

Green Tech takes over the top spot after and up-and-down week for Mohon and Bishop Gibbons. NDBG played CBA tough for awhile in the first half but the Brothers took over. The Knights are going to be tough in the sectionals as will the Mohonasen Warriors. Out in the Foothills, Glens Falls has done enough to elevate themselves to the elite of the class and the winner of the league most likely will get the #1 or #2 seed in sectionals as league champions always get rewarded.

CLASS B

1. Watervliet (10-1)

2. Mekeel Christian (9-0)

3. Stillwater (10-2)

4. Catskill (9-3)

5. Taconic Hills (9-3)

6. Chatham (8-3)

7. Granville (7-5)

8. Schuylerville (6-5)

9. Cohoes (8-4)

10. Ravena (5-5)

Watervliet and Mekeel continue to hold the top two spots and Stillwater has done enough to fall in there after them but it gets very interesting in the middle of the pack as the Patroon B teams are all jockeying for position. Look out for Catskill who is getting things together at the right time after a tough non-league schedule. Their games with Taconic Hills and Chatham will determine which of the Patroon B’s gets a top 3-4 seed.

CLASS C

1. Hoosick Falls (10-1)

2. Mechanicville (8-3)

3. Greenwich (10-2)

4. Fort Plain (10-3)

5. Lake George (9-1)

6. Rensselaer (7-4)

7. Voorheesville (7-5)

8. Canajoharie (10-3)

9. Waterford (8-4)

10. Hoosic Valley (7-5)

Hoosick Falls held Schuylerville to 29 and 30 points in their two games this season. Looking at Schuylerville’s resume and imposing team, that is enough for me to give them the top spot. Mechanicville has been very good this year losing only to top Class B schools. Although they have one more loss than Greenwich, I give them the slight nod for #2. Fort Plain falls in just below Greenwich after making a big move up the C rankings by taking down WAC North leader Canjo. The two teams have now split on the season. Lake George is playing great up North, but their loss to Stillwater on the road still has me wondering where they fall against the best of the area.

CLASS D

1. Argyle (10-1)

2. Sharon Springs (8-1)

3. Fort Ann (8-2)

4. Germantown (6-2)

5. Loudonville Christian (7-4)

6. North Warren (6-4)

7. Hawthorne Valley (6-4)

8. Doane Stuart (6-4)

Argyle and Sharon Springs have been battling for the top spot all year long and this week Argyle did just enough to vault past Sharon who still has to face Mekeel again as well as BKW on the road as well as the WAC semifinals and finals. They could end up with 2-3 losses realistically. Argyle should not lose again although their upcoming battle against Fort Ann should be fun. Loudonville Christian appears in the rankings after taking down league leader Waterford by a sizable margin this week. They look to be playing their best basketball at the right time. Hawthorne Valley is back in the rankings after taking down Doane Stuart. They could be a tough matchup in sectionals.

56 Responses

You can’t honestly put Makeel and Stillwater at 2&3..Look at their schedules…Makeel, i mean come on, look at their conference…They play all C and D schools, any team could be undefeated with their schedule.This same thing happened last year, they were a top seed..play Johnstown, won by 2, and then got BLOWNOUT by Schylerville, their overrated. Also Stillwater plays all C schools and low B schools, they got blown out by the only decent B school they played.(Schylerville)

Q: I am on the girls staff at Tamarac and have refrained from the girls rankings. I am sure James Allen would cover that on his sidelines blog. He is up on all the girls teams and does stuff on both boys and girls every week.

Section2Fan: Of course Mekeel plays a weaker schedule but they have a bona fide Division 1 player on their team and have beaten who is on their schedule. Sectionals will be very tough for them but they have the two scorers they need to carry them. We will see how good they are in the tournament. I think they are plenty good enough to reach th semis this year. Stillwater is going to get rewarded for their record if they finish 14-4 at worst. They are a strong team regardles of league competition. Some of the teams below them will have at least 6 losses. I am not saying Stillwater would beat every team below them but you have to look at who you played and beat. Schuylerville lost to Granville who Stillwater beat. Schuylerville beat Cohoes a few weeks ago. Cohoes beat Mechanicville but lost to Vliet. If Cohoes got a big win over a Vliet, it would be a different story. Right now, this is how they fall in my opinion.

Mr. B: Schoharie is a tough school to seed based upon their record. They definitely will be a tough opponent for any sectional opponent and certainly could beat Waterford but up until last night Waterford had taken care of their league and are still 8-4. Schoharie needs to beat a Mekeel or BKW first.

You say schoharie “certainly could beat waterford”? They did beat them. And for some reason they are left off the list? While waterford moves up after losing to loudonville christian? Why does schoharie need to “beat mekkel or bkw” when waterford hasn’t beat anyone of note either, yet schoharie handed them a loss?

Berne knox isn’t on your C rankings either. What would that win prove that the win over the fordians didn’t?

My comments are regarding AA. The suburban council overall talent is definitely down. I noticed looking at the list the high quality of the coaching staffs in both leagues that traditionally get excellent results from their teams. The one weak staff that I see is at Bethlehem. They seem to start strong then fizzle as what the parents call the X factor takes over. They are consistently out coached as was witnessed down the stretch at the Shen game. Don’t bet on them going very far. Mohon, Shen and Colonie have excellent staffs so you can never rule them out.

Saratoga is supposed to have a “great” coach but the results are even worse this year. Please let this be a one and done year with this coach.
Also the talent is going to be down in the “AA’S” when schools like CBA and Albany Academy continue to ILLEGALLY recruit players. It’s time for private schools to stop playing in the NYS PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL ASSOCIATION. Anyone who says private schools don’t recruit is full of s**t and it’s about time section 2 does something about it.

Yes Schoharie beat Sharon Springs last night behind TJ Smith’s 44pts and they beat Waterford by like 14, but yet Waterford, class C, is ranked and if you look at their 8 wins all have come against class D teams and 0 against any class C temas, and with losses against Canjo, Ft. Plain and Schoharie

Careful @ #16- you are very entitled to your opinion but just a little back ground on the coach at Saratoga. He was a hell of a player for Don Bassett at CCHS in Troy back when CCHS was the CBA of now. He is very enthusiastic to his players and about the game. He paid his dues on Fruscio’s staff for many years. Listen a coach is as good as his players. If you do not have the horses to pull the sled, the sled is not going to move. Motivation only goes so far. He is low, very low on talent this year. I hope he does recruit a couple of kids to Saratoga. Everybody else is doing it and Section 2 sits on their butt and does nothing about it. So everyone should do it. Just another opinion………Go Giants!!

Carefulwhatuwishfor, it’s obvious you are a crybaby toga parent or someone that got passed over for the job . Mike Krzyzewski couldnt win with the talent they have unlike previous years where they were loaded with talent and underachieved . If you can’t see that, you have no idea what you’re talking about. As for players getting recruited, take a look at your public school number one team in the area Troy and your argument is flawed again. You are a mental midget.

Comment by WAC #17: Why I do think that Schoharie should be ranked (and most likely will end up there), they beat Waterford by 12. I was at the game and Waterford was up 9 at half and was only trailing by 4 with 3 and change to go in the game when TJ Smith drained 2 back to back 3’s. I don’t think it is worth everyone getting all worked up over. Eric does a great job with the blog. Why don’t we just wait and see how things play out in the end?

WAC, Panther and Blue Indian: I love your enthusiasm. I like Schoharie but understand they were 6-5 at the time of the posting because their game score was not sent to the TU. With a 6-5 record compared to Waterford’s 8-4 record and first-place in the CHVL, I felt that gave them a stronger case than Schoharie at the time. Of course we all know Waterford lost to Schoharie and they maybe would lose to them if they played now, but Schoharie’s resume is very up-and-down. They lost to some good teams and some ok teams. If they were 7-5 at the time of the post I may have given them the nod over Hoosic Valley because I believe the SCH Indians would defeat the HV Indians on a neutral floor simply because Schoharie is senior-led while HV is led by a frosh. Experience counts big time in the sectionals. So, to explain myself, I believe Shane Barton is a great coach and TJ Smith is a fantastic scorer, with that combination and a crew of kids who understand their roles and defer to Smith when he is hot, this team should crack the rankings next week. That said, they need to get retribution against BKW to prove they do not belong ahead of the Indians.

To think that all private schools are illegally recruiting, wrong….#16….Maybe you are feeling disturbed by choices you have made for your child and their education?? We still live in the free world last I checked. Be happy for the kids that have opportunities that have been presented. When school choices are made, should and based on academics, motivation, college aspirations, and other activities they have been involved in their whole lives, including community service, religion, arts, etc…..We all should just hope that not only do our children graduate high school, but get to college, get a job, have a career, and become a productive member of society!!!! It takes a village, what have YOU done to help out the kid next door who might need a nudge???

At comment #16, My child was coached by Frank Mahoney in AAU, I believe he is a good coach and a good man who paid his dues. This is his first year coaching at saratoga h.s. and it takes a couple of years for a coach to implement a new system for present and upcoming players. I am sure he will do well, stop acting like a whining, disgrunted parent. Coach Domell of cba did not have a good record the first three years at cba, and he turned out to be a great coach.

At comment #16, instead of accusing teams of illegal recruiting, maybe these players and parents prefer a private school education over a public school education, or maybe they want an opportunity for more playing time because most public schools have larger student population or maybe the coach is not interested in he/she. CBA and some other private schools talent is not much better than the top area schools. Last year cba just got pass albany in the boys’ hoop sectional championship in overtime and this year troy beat cba, so much for this dream team recruiting class.

In spite of what most people who comment on this blog seem to think, Waterford did not play badly against Schoharie. I was at that game as well. Waterford led for most of that game and had it not been for a few bad defensive plays leaving TJ Smith open for 3’s and a missed shot or two by Waterford players they could have quite possibly won that game. Also, Loudonville Christian got a significant amount of help in their win against Waterford the other night, there was clearly a large disparity between the number of calls made for Loudonville and the number of fouls called for Waterford, as well as a few of the Fordian players struggling with their shot after a long layoff of almost two weeks. I’m not going to claim that the Fordians will “run the table” this year, but they have a good chance of playing well against some of the other teams that all of you keep mentioning. And one last side note – after a lot of people made negative comments on this blog last year regarding Waterford, a few of the returning players have made a point of checking Eric’s blog frequently and often use what’s said here as motivation to play better.

As I have stateed several times, I DO NOT have a player on the team or in the school. I am just a long time fan of Saratoga basketball. This coach verbally assaults his players, swears at them loud enough for us to hear in the stands and has physically grabbed kids during time outs. These are not qualities that I want in Saratoga as a tax payer in the district.
And CBA and Albany Academy illegally recruited my nephew 2 years ago for football and baseball. So again anyone who says otherwise is just part of the conspiracy.